Lenovo Z51 Review and Ratings

Editors’ Rating:

Our Verdict:
Available with options ranging up to Core i7 power (although buyers in that segment will want a better IPS screen), the Lenovo Z51 is an affordable alternative to low-quality, low-resolution budget laptops. Read More…

What We Liked…

Full HD display

Expansive keyboard

Onboard optical drive

What We Didn’t…

Mediocre battery life

So-so screen quality

No keyboard backlighting

Lenovo Z51 Review

Table of Contents

Introduction & Features

Truism #1: Not all of us can or want to spend four figures on a computer. Truism #2: A lot of us might nevertheless deem it worth spending a little extra to get something better than the generic sub-$400 laptops lining Walmart's shelves and offering only the bare minimum.

Enter the Lenovo Z51, a value-oriented 15.6-inch notebook that starts at a low $499—but includes a full HD (1,920x1,080) display and speedy Intel Core i5-5200U "Broadwell" dual-core processor—and can climb about as high as you like, with options ranging from Core i7 power and AMD discrete graphics to Intel's RealSense 3D camera.

Even those models, however, make some sacrifices for cost: While you won't find a lowly 1,366x768 screen or humble Celeron CPU, you won't find a backlit keyboard or an in-plane switching (IPS) display, either.

And navigating Lenovo.com's list of available configurations can be confusing. Our Z51 test unit, with 8GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive, and Windows 8.1, listed for $629 but fell off the site when Windows 10 arrived. The closest configs now are a pair of $569 models with 500GB instead of 1TB hard drives, a choice of black or white lids, and Win 10. If half a terabyte is sufficient local storage for you—and we're betting it is, between cheap external drives and cheap cloud storage—you'd be hard pressed to find a laptop that offers better specs at this price point.

Design

Breaking from the budget notebook norm of single color schemes, the Z51 has a two-tone appearance with a bright silver palm rest and black lid. The majority of the build material is plastic, although the palm rest and keyboard surround is a single piece of stamped brushed aluminum. The black keys create additional contrast with the aluminum.

Build quality is relatively solid, if not to the point where we'd confuse the Z51 with one of Lenovo's business-class ThinkPads. The lid and chassis are slightly bendable side to side, and we were able to produce ripples in the display panel by pressing in from behind, albeit with severe pressure.

At 5.1 pounds, the Z51 doesn't qualify as lightweight, and at 15.1 by 10.4 by 1 inches, it doesn't qualify as easily portable; instead, it's dead average for a budget notebook this size. Its physique is not without redemption, however, as you're getting not only a spacious 15.6-inch display but a full-sized keyboard with numeric keypad which makes the Z51 a viable desktop replacement for home users. Lenovo sells a 14-inch version, the Z41, if you're interested in a smaller model.

The keyboard, as we mentioned, lacks backlighting and has a plasticky feel, yet satisfying tactile feedback due to its short key throw and precise up-and-down action. There's no visible flex when typing with normal pressure. The layout is generally desktop-like, though the arrow-key cluster is sandwiched into the main keyboard and makes the right Shift and keypad zero keys half the size they are normally. We were able to adjust to these undersized keys without much trouble.

The touch pad, centered below the main keyboard area, has a smooth surface for accurate tracking and a well-defined beveled edge. Its buttons have good feedback and make an audible click when pressed, though it's subtle enough for us to forgive.

Features

One of the Z51's main attractions, even on the $499 model (whose 4GB of RAM keeps us from a recommendation), is its full 1080p screen resolution. The first piece of good news is that the 1,920x1,080 display has an anti-glare surface with none of the reflective qualities of a glossy screen; it improves usability in well-lit areas, especially outdoors. The full HD resolution is also easy to appreciate in nearly all scenarios, whether multitasking with two windows side by side or watching 1080p videos.

The screen's color reproduction, however, is underwhelming, as some colors aren't as vibrant as we're used to seeing. An even bigger fault is that the twisted nematic (TN) panel has far narrower viewing angles than an IPS display; looking at it from anywhere but head on results in a washed-out image. Last, the display lacks touch capabilities, but we aren't docking points for that.

The Z51 houses a fair amount of connectivity. Along its left edge are the AC power jack, VGA and HDMI outputs, an Ethernet jack, and a pair of USB 3.0 ports. The right edge holds an audio jack, USB 2.0 port, SD card slot, DVD±RW drive, and lock slot. The inclusion of a DVD burner is enough to make headlines these days as we're seeing more and more consumer notebooks without optical drives.

Lenovo specs the Z51 with a pair of 2.5-watt JBL speakers although there's no visible JBL branding. The speakers are located under either side of the palm rest and project downward. We found this setup put out impressive volume and had minimal distortion even up to 80 percent volume, more than enough to fill a small room with sound. The speakers have a reasonable amount of low end so the sound isn't hollow, but it doesn't extend far enough to emulate a real subwoofer. One caveat with this setup is that the sound quality is greatly dependent on the laptop's sitting on a solid surface—it's almost inaudible on a soft surface like a couch or bed.

The 720p Webcam mounted above the screen has average quality that quickly turns grainy in low-light conditions. The picture quality is relatively clear otherwise and plenty adequate for Skype meetings.

A single cooling fan pushes warm air out the left side of the chassis. We had no heat issues with our review unit even under intense benchmarking; the chassis stays cool or barely lukewarm during typical usage. The fan runs at low speed more often than not, only deactivating during light tasks such as word processing. Fan noise is only a slight concern, though, as it's barely audible at low speed and only noticeable if you're listening for it at higher speeds.

Table of Contents

Lenovo Z51

Our Verdict:
Available with options ranging up to Core i7 power (although buyers in that segment will want a better IPS screen), the Lenovo Z51 is an affordable alternative to low-quality, low-resolution budget laptops.

TERMS OF USE

ComputerShopper may earn affiliate commissions from shopping links included on this page. To find out more, read our complete Terms of Service.